Economy leads to Baltimore homeless shelter's closure

Heart's Place helped people in Charles Village since 1988

The bad economy has made it hard for Baltimore's emergency homeless shelters to stay afloat, and one of them had to close its doors this year because of it.

There are at least 4,000 people in Baltimore who are considered homeless, including nearly 500 children.

The basement of Saint John's Church in Charles Village has been home to Heart's Place Shelter since 1988. It usually operates from November through April, and even though there's a sign on the basement door saying it's closed this year, that hasn't stopped people from banging on the door looking for help, those who ran the shelter said.

Last winter, the shelter was filled with 20 beds which were, in turn, filled with 20 people in need.

"We had barriers here with shelving, and this corner was our women and children's area, filled with eight cots," said Carol Berman, who co-founded the shelter with her late husband. "It is a rather meager surrounding, but you should have seen it."

Berman said for a quarter of a century, they offered people hot showers, food, clothing and counseling.

"The basement leaks a lot, so we have floors on which the paint is come off a lot, but in spite of all of that, our guests called us the Hilton of the shelters," Berman said.

She said the shelter could only afford to operate for part of the week, and even that took about $85,000 a year.

"It took a village, as people say. It always takes a village to run anything like this," Berman said.

But in recent years, the recession has taken its toll, and donations are way down. Berman said there has been a shift in government funding, so the focus is now on longer-term housing, not emergency shelters.

"The only problem is, by providing permanent housing, it's only going to help a very small amount of homeless out there," she said.

The fact that the shelter has had to close is unfortunate.

"I have actually seen people come and ask if they were open," said resident Eric Hardy, who lives nearby.

Even though the shelter isn't operating, those who helped there are still trying to help Baltimore's thousands of homeless citizens. Each weekend, they give out backpacks full of nonperishable food to homeless elementary school students, 11 News reporter Sarah Sampson said.

"So that when the child goes back to school on Monday, the first thing on his mind isn't necessarily eating," Berman said.

That program is currently in one school, but the group said they're hoping to expand.

Heart's Place is still accepting donations. Berman said the money will also be used to help pay off a loan it took out last year to stay in operation.

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